At the tender age just 16, Simon Walker-Hansell couldn't tell you what it's like to drive to the shops in a car.

But ask him about winning races on the track and the Nunthorpe teenager has already got a wealth of experience to talk about.

After establishing himself as one of the country's top junior kart drivers, he moved on to the big tracks in the T-Cars Championship - an innovative tin top series for school-age drivers.

He won that title in 2003 before moving into the inaugural Formula BMW UK Championship last season - winning the series' first ever race to become the youngest ever winner of a single-seater race in Britain.

This year he's back on the Formula BMW grid but with the Carlin Motorsport team - the reigning team champions.

It's fair to say that he didn't make a flying start to 2005 - but everything clicked into place at at Rockingham last month where he bagged his first win of the year followed by a fighting second place.

"We had some mechanical problems early on," explained Simon, "but they seem to be sorted now.

"Hopefully what we achieved at Rockingham was a sign that things weren't as bad as we thought they might have been and that we're back up where we should be."

The results at Rockingham rocketed Simon up the points table and now, with 14 races ahead of him, he believes he is well-placed for a title challenge.

"I am confident that I am capable of going for the championship this year," he said with a maturity beyond his 16 years.

"We've got a really good car and I'm now in sixth place on 41 points.

"The leader, Mark Howson, has 65 but with 20 points for a win and two races at each meeting, there is plenty of opportunity to make that up. It only takes one non-finish and I'm right up there.

"It's tougher this year because there are six guys going for the championship - but I'm confident of beating all six."

The Formula BMW UK series mirrors similar championships in Germany, Asia and the USA and was designed to be a breeding ground for future Formula One stars.

Simon's team are certainly big on progression, with teams in the British Formula Three and Renault World Series.

What's more, team boss Trevor Carlin is also involved in the Jordan Formula One operation.

Though the Formula BMWs look like F1s, that's pretty much where the similarity ends, explained Simon.

"They're not the easiest to engineer," he said, "because you get to a point where you over-engineer them.

"There's a lot of pressure because I know my feedback is better than a lot of the other guys in the championship, but I know the team would be able to get more out of it in Formula Three.

"The aerodynamics are different too. In Formula BMW you have to drive aggressively while in Formula Three and Formula One you drive smoothly, which is more natural."

But it's all good experience and, with Rob Wilson, Frank Mountain and Peter Windsor in his corner, he's in good hands.

And he's already preparing for the next step of a racing career which began in karts at the age of seven.

"The idea would be to stay with Carlin," he explained, "and move into F3 next year. After two seasons in F3 I'd be looking to move into World Series or GP2."

He stops short of mentioning the final step - F1 - but it's clearly the ultimate aim.

Before all that happens, though, he's got something more immediate to achieve behind the wheel - his driving test.

"I'm 17 on June 13," he explained, and that's when I'm going to do my theory. And I've booked a course of driving lessons. It's going to be strange driving on the road..."